The Cavs defeated the Clippers despite the absence of Kyrie Irving (concussion). Colin McGowan had a faulty wireless connection for most of the game, so this recap’s going to be short.
–Of course Ramon Sessions played out of his freaking head one night after looking like a total scrub. He drained threes, snaked to the bucket, and even flashed a couple pull-up jumpers. He made Chris Paul look bad. Sessions will probably turn the ball over five times the next time he plays, but he was revelatory tonight.
–Great job by Anderson Varejao on Blake Griffin. I don’t often mention how well Varejao checks his man in the post because he plays impermeable defense almost every night, but considering the physical freak Griffin is, Wild Thing’s commendable defensive performance is particularly notable.
–I apologize to Antawn Jamison for all the mean things I’ve said about him. He put up 27 points on 10-18 shooting, and confounded Griffin a couple of times with his various angles of delivery.
–I forget that Boobie Gibson’s a valuable player because he’s in and out of the lineup so much, but he came up big tonight with 17 points on 6-11 shooting including a crucial three-pointer with 1:20 left in the game.
–Am I missing something or has Christian Eyenga looked not terrible in his short appearances the last couple games? I need to go over some game tape and see if he’s as lost in terms of defensive rotations as he was last season, but in real time, he looked competent.
–Mo Williams blew a lay-up that would’ve tied the game late in the fourth quarter. So, y’know, Mo Williams doing Mo Williams things.
–Vinny Del Negro, at one point, went small against a Cavs frontcourt of Samardo Samuels and Luke Harangody. Vinny Del Negro is very not good at coaching.
Alright, that’s all I got. I’ll probably have more news on Kyrie’s concussion tomorrow. Until then, friends.
Going back to last year: Ramon Sessions plays better when starting. This bodes well for a trade to a Laker.
If we can get a young prospect + their pick for Sessions, I’d do it.
Anyone else see the play where Gee beat his guy baseline, then crossed over on the help defender, did a jump stop from a weird angle, and elevated enough to toss one in over a shotblocker? This guy is doing something every night that makes me say wow.
Anderson Varejao is the Cavs MVP. Watching him play is just a pleasure. Nobody works harder, nobody gets more beat up, and he even sealed the game with a clutch jumper. He is incredible.
Ramon was awesome tonight. He was really aggressive and had 10 paint points, his dribble drives and penetration created a lot of shots for the other guys, and he really made Chris Paul work hard on the defensive end. He also made some clutch pull up shots and jumpers. He really schooled Chris Paul. I don’t know if Kyrie puts up a game like this tonight. Ramon does this though, we saw it last year, he shows flashes of being a really good point guard in this league, then he will have a clunker game where he turns the ball over a lot and misses shots. I hope you were watching this game Lakers scouts. He’d look really good running the point in the staples center going against Chris Paul. At least he’ll be much better than old man Fisher. And the Cavs need 1st round draft picks.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say something about the job Boobie did playing D on Chris Paul tonight. We all know he can hit clutch 3s, which he did again tonight, but he really has become a good defender. He kept Chris Paul in front of him all night, had 2 blocks, and bothered Chris Paul’s shots all night and mitigated his penetrations contributing to a sub par shooting night for Paul. Boobie might not be able to play the point offensively, but he has proven he can guard the point. I feel more confident with him guarding the elite point guards in this league as opposed to Sess or Irving.
I agree, Griffin did not know what to do with Antawn and his unconventional shooting style. Blake couldn’t guard him, and Jameson was on fire tonight. Props. Also props to Andy for getting under Blake’s skin and in his head and getting him to foul out. Andy and Antawn used their veteran craftiness and savy, and out toughed the Clippers front court. Griffin looked like a young player tonight. Only one dunk.
Christian Eyenga does look much improved on the defensive end. He is an athletic freak, it would be a big bonus for the Cavs if he could develop into a rotation player. He had 2 nice blocks again tonight. It’s nice to see him contributing. I’d like an extended look at him.
Nice to see Semih and Samardo get the playing time tonight over moving screen Hollins. I liked Samardo’s toughness inside. I also liked him putting Blake Griffin on the ground.
Harangody still stinks.
So, what was up with Ramon. He looked like he played angry. He had an almost perfect game today and didnt stink defensively. It was an absolute pleasure to watch but also very confounding becasue i couldnt understand why he doesnt do this every night.That was phenomenal nevertherless. But am pretty sure he’ll have a clunker next game.
Antwan was throwing up bank shots and flip shots out there that just made me just shake my head. And he wasnt blown by several times during the game by his man. Ok is it just me or does Antwan look like he’s actually semi compentent on defense now. Seriously, last few games he doesnt look like a complete liability on the floor deffensively. I think am wrong coz that just cant be right.
Meanwhile Boobie’s defense is an absolute beauty to watch.He blanketed CP3 in so many possesions, you could feel CP3′s fruastration as the game went along. He was amazing.
Also Cavs havent lost a game in those jerseys. And they are not ugly.
And finally and most importantly, Ryan Hollins DID NOT PLAY. This is a victory regardless of what the score was.
Ooh and then there’s Jeremy Lin.He deserves a special mention just because
Also, the part about VDN going small against a front court of Samardo and Harangody,”Vinny Del Negro is not very good at coaching”. That was hilarious.
We all know Sessions is awful when he worries about minutes. I can’t remember a time when he played well while definitely being the number 2 PG. He started sucking really hard the second we had Baron last year and once Irving really made it clear that he is the guy. I would like to thank Sessions for this game, because he might have just really helped our trade prospects.
For all the talk about Jamison’s professionalism, he certainly wasn’t a pro last season. He so blatantly mailed in every defensive possession last season that his mere competency this season is confusing all of us. I’m glad he is playing closer to his career level on that end, but it is just awful that we had to endure last season’s misery from him. I’d feel bad for Mike Brown and his Lakers’ defense, but if we can somehow convince the Lakers to take Jamison and Sessions off our hands, involve another team and somehow end up with 2 first rounders and a swing player, I would be thrilled.
Great game again by Andy. I hope his back is alright.
TRADE ANDY!! Like, right now. His value will NEVER be higher, we can get a lottery pick in a loaded draft for him. Consider: he’ll be 30 in September. Big men don’t age well…especially those with his high motor, borderline-reckless style of play. Also, If you took Tristan with a top 5 pick last year, you have to believe he’ll develop into at least 80% of what we’re getting from Andy in as early as 2 years, right?
I like Austin Link’s trade proposal of Varejao to the spurs for Kawhi Leonard, James Anderson, and Matt Bonner.
I’d add San Antonio’s first rounder and pull the trigger immediately (or at least swap the NO 2nd rounder for SA’s 1st rounder). Bonner has a pretty bad contract, but he’s needed in the deal to make the salaries work.
i said it yesterday on here and i’ll say it again: the cavs would be FOOLISH to give up on eyenga anytime soon. austin carr really nailed it yesterday (yeah i know. even a blind squirrel, etc.) when he said eyenga doesn’t even no how good he is right now!
as much as i L-O-V-E byron for bringing toughness to this franchise, his treatment of eyenga has been off-base. this kid needs love and confidence-building. can you imagine just the cultural changes he’s dealing with?
bottom line is that eyenga has a TON of potential. develop it. don’t get frustrated by it and give up on it. we’re in position where we don’t have to, to be honest. play the kid; build up his confidence. you will be rewarded, IMO…
Sorry, Spurs aren’t giving up Leonard for another big. I’m beginning to think he’s the one we should have drafted at 4.